Day 1
Upon arrival meet your New Orleans guide and coach and then transfer to your hotel. After check in depart for dinner at the School of Cooking. Experience firsthand the fun, food & folklore of eating in New Orleans – a great introduction to the gastronomic delights of New Orleans!
Day 2
This morning meet your guide for a tour of the city. Visit Louis III Cemetery, often called “the city of the dead” because of its above ground tombs. See the New Orleans Museum of Art, located at the end of a beautiful tree-lined avenue and also the entrance to City Park. This neo-classical building was designed by Chicago architect, Samuel Marx. Continue to Lake Pontchartrain, were you will see the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Katrina’s presence, which hit New Orleans five years ago, is still being felt by the local surrounding areas. See the re-building efforts by various volunteer organizations that have helped to re-establish life once again in the hardest hit areas of metropolitan New Orleans. Next you’ll see the old town of Carrollton to St. Charles Avenue following the streetcar route where you’ll see Tulane and Loyola Universities, Audubon Park and beautifully restored mansions.
Get a glimpse of the spectacular Superdome and the French Quarter before heading to the French Market for lunch. The French Market, “America’s Oldest Public Market”, has existed on the same site since 1791. What began as a Native American trading post has become a cultural and events destination that hosts annual festivals such as The Creole Tomato Festival and more. In the afternoon enjoy a ride across the Mississippi River, and take a fascinating boat trip into the Louisiana Swamps & Bayous. Afterward transfer to a local restaurant for dinner and enjoy watching the sun set on the bayou.
Day 3
This morning depart from the hotel for your community work for The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Afterwards transfer to the Creole Queen for a paddleboat cruise on The Mississippi River. Get a firsthand look at the largest port in the United States and also see where the English were defeated by the Jean Lafitte privateers. Lunch will be served on board.
Tonight enjoy an evening of jazz at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. Preservation Hall opened its doors in 1961. It was created as a sanctuary, to protect and honor New Orleans Jazz which had lost much of its popularity to modern jazz and rock n roll. Allan and Sandra Jaffe, the hall’s founders, wanted a place where New Orleans musicians could play New Orleans Jazz, a style, they believed, should not disappear.
Day 4
This morning meet your coach and transfer to a local high school for a joint performance with their band or choir.
In the afternoon board your motorcoach to visit Laura Plantation, an operating sugar farm built in 1805. Laura, a Creole Plantation, offers what has been called “the best history tour in the U.S.” Based upon 5,000 pages of documents found in the French National Archives and upon Laura’s Memories of the Old Plantation Home, she details 250 years of true-life stories of the Creole women, slaves and children who lived and worked here. The Plantation boasts 11 historic buildings on the National Register, including slave cabins in which the West-African folktales of Compair Lapin (later known as Br’er Rabbit) were recorded over 140 years ago.
Tonight transfer to Mulates Restaurant known as the original Cajun restaurant, famous for preserving and celebrating the food, music and culture found in the small towns and along the bayous of south Louisiana. You’ll listen to live Cajun music and have a chance to dance.
Day 5
Check out of your hotel and depart for Mardi Gras World. Explore the world of wonders, created by the people who bring Mardi Gras to life every year—the artists of Blaine Kern Studios. The colors, the lights, the music and the joie de vivre, it’s all here in one magical place where you can peek behind the curtain and see Mardi Gras in the making. You’ll depart directly from Mardi Gras World for New Orleans Airport for your return flight home.